


Sean's Voice

by Rakshi



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: Early Work, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-15
Updated: 2011-12-15
Packaged: 2017-10-27 08:46:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/293887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakshi/pseuds/Rakshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean gets knocked unconscious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sean's Voice

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Notes: I wrote this story many months after hearing a tiny snippet about Sean being knocked cold by a falling piece of the Rivendell set. The real events were NOT as depicted here. HAPPILY, he came to at once and was not rushed to the hospital. This is only my idea of how it COULD have been. I hesitated a long time before posting it because my version bears so little resemblance to the actual event. However, I've been urged to let you all read it.. so here you go. Now you can all hear 'Sean's Voice'.
> 
> Please remember.. this did not happen as I describe here.

The Rivendell set was beautiful. If you didn’t look up at lights and other paraphernalia; or around too much at cameras, and crew, and 280 pound grips who bore no resemblance at ALL to Elves, you could almost believe you were there.

Elijah parked himself in a chair where his field of vision was entirely focused on the Elven city and took it all in. _I want to remember this._ Elijah thought. _Ten years from now I want to remember what this felt like._ He narrowed his eyes and tipped the chair back trying to absorb every detail. The statues. The carvings. The arches. The scrollwork. The beauty that was no less riveting because it was newly created. The magic that was always so much a part of this production.

Sadly the noise from the set was anything but Elven in nature. Clatters and bangs and yells ricocheted as everyone tried to get ready for the next shot. Elijah was so accustomed to most of the noise that he automatically tuned it out.

But suddenly a noise slammed it's way into his consciousness. A noise he’d never heard before. One that startled him out of his reflection and jolted him to his feet. The sound of something falling, clattering loudly as it struck objects on it's way down. The sound of someone screaming: Look out, Sean! The sound of a horribly loud crash. The sound of silence closely followed by yelling voices and running feet.

Elijah felt cold fear course through him before he fully realized why. He heard someone . . . PJ? . . . yelling: “Sean! Are you alright?” and bolted to the railing that ran along the balcony where he’d been sitting. He could see a gathering crowd just below him and instantly leaped over the railing to the set below.

He landed hard, but was on his feet and running in a split second. He could just see Sean through a barricade of bodies and immediately began tearing through them, shoving them, roughly, out of his way.

“Move!” Elijah yelled. “Get the fuck out of my way!” He shoved one of the cameraman’s assistants into a wall, not even seeing him. But his path was finally clear and he fell to his knees beside Sean. Peter was already beside him, face twisted with fear. It was obvious that Sean was unconscious. And even coated iAuthor's Notes: I wrote this story many months ago after hearing a tiny snippet about Sean being knocked cold on the Rivendell set. As I later discovered, the real events were NOT as depicted here. HAPPILY, he came to at once and was not rushed to the hospital. This is only my idea of how it COULD have been. I hesitated a long time before posting it because my version bears so little resemblance to the actual event. However, I've been urged to let you all read it.. so here you go. Now you can all hear 'Sean's Voice'.

Please remember.. this did not happen as I describe here.

\- Sean's Voice -  
n Sam-makeup, his face was a frightening shade of gray. His wig was askew on his head.

“Sean!” Elijah yelled, petrified by the sight of his blanched face. He grabbed Sean’s shoulders and shook him. “Sean.” he moaned.

“Elijah!” Peter cried, grabbing him. “Don’t move him! Don’t jostle him! He could be badly hurt. You could make it worse.”

“What happened?!” Elijah asked in a high voice. He took Sean’s hand in his and clung to it, trying desperately not to break down. _Oh God!_ Elijah thought. _He looks so pale. He’s so still!_

“Peter!” Elijah shouted, half hysterical. “What happened??!”

Peter looked at Elijah and then pointed to just above Sean’s head. “That fell on him. Hit him square in the head.”

Elijah looked in horror at the huge, wooden piece of Rivendell that had plummeted from the high overheads to the set below. It was enormous.

He leaned over Sean still clinging to his hand. With a gigantic feeling of relief he could see that Sean was breathing deeply. In the background he dimly heard Peter saying that an ambulance was on the way, but his whole attention was focused on Sean. He crouched over him, his mouth nearly touching Sean's ear, and pleaded with him in a low voice. “Sean. Oh, please, wake up. Don’t do this to me, Seanie. Please. You can’t leave me. You can’t leave me.”

Someone shouted. "Fucking God, would you MOVE?!" Glancing up he saw both Dominic and Billy shoving people out of their way, trying to get to him. In another moment they both were kneeling beside him.

"Jesus." Dom muttered, appalled at Sean's sickly gray skin. "He's really out."

Billy said nothing but put his arm around Elijah, trying to steady him. Elijah barely knew he was there. He leaned back over Sean, talking to him, imploring him to wake up. "Seanie. Seanie." He moaned. Billy, seeing that Elijah was trembling violently, wrapped his arms tighter around him.

"He's gonna be OK, Lij." He said, hoping to god he was right. "Sean's strong. You know how strong he is. He'll make it. He'll be OK."

Dom turned to Peter. "How long has he been out?"

"Not more than a few minutes. There's an ambulance on the way." The big director glanced at Elijah and shook his head. "Watch him, Dom. Don't let him jostle Sean. It might be important not to move him and Elijah's half out of it himself."

Dom turned back to Elijah but before he could speak he saw that the ambulance had arrived. Two paramedics quickly leaned over Sean trying to assess his injuries.

One of them gently moved Elijah out of the way so he could strap a collar around Sean's neck and Elijah found himself behind Sean's head. He looked down at Sam's wig and saw a huge protrusion on the side. It looked as though someone had stuck a baseball underneath his wig.

Elijah's mouth fell open. He grabbed Dom's arm and he pointed at the enormous lump. "Oh Jesus, Dommie!" he gulped.

"Take his wig off." Dominic suggested. But one of the medics shook his head.

"Let's not move him around any more than we have to until we get him to the hospital." Then, seeing Elijah's stricken face, the paramedic patted his arm. "Hey." He said gently. "His vitals are strong and steady. That's a good sign."

"Is he going to be all right?" Elijah pleaded. "Please tell me."

"We just don't know yet." The Medic said. "He took one hell of a knock on the head. We need to get him to the hospital."

They lifted Sean to a stretcher and wheeled him toward the door. Elijah clung to his hand. Nothing and no one was going to separate him from Sean. The medics suggested that he ride behind them with Dom and Billy, but Elijah flatly refused.

"I'm not leaving him. I'm going with him." He wouldn't release Sean's hand . . . too afraid they'd take Sean away from him. He tore at his Frodo wig with one hand and ripped it from his head. Tossing it to the floor, he leaned over and tore his prosthetic feet to shreds. Billy raced to Elijah's trailer for his shoes.

Elijah looked at the paramedics through stormy blue eyes, and with the hand not holding Sean, grabbed the side of the stretcher. "I'm not leaving him." He said inflexibly. "Let's GO!"

Dom shrugged at the medic. "If I were you, I'd just let him ride with you, mate. If you try to pull him away you'll just end up with two patients."

Seeing it was a losing battle, the medics relented and allowed Elijah to stay with Sean. He clambered in and knelt in back of Sean's head, reaching to clasp his hand again.

He jumped when the siren began screaming just over his head and from that point on, the ride was a living nightmare. The ambulance streaked down the road at breakneck speed, siren wailing. It was obvious that they considered Sean's injury to be deadly serious, and with every passing moment Elijah felt his fear escalating.

 _A million images burned their way across his brain. Horrible images. Terrifying images. A doctor saying to him: "I'm sorry, Mr. Wood. We did everything we could." Himself staring at Sean as he lay in a coffin. Sean, his brilliant mind ruined and shattered, staring blankly out a window.. not even knowing Elijah. Himself wandering through his life without the one person who'd made it worth living. Empty. Alone._

He watched the paramedic insert an IV needle into Sean's arm and tried to control himself. He closed his eyes and tried to breath deeply. Then he heard the paramedic's voice.

"Well, look who decided to wake up."

Elijah leaned over Sean and saw two hazel eyes looking up at him. "Sean!" he sobbed, feeling his heart nearly burst with joy. "Oh, Seanie, you're awake! Please talk to me!" The paramedic pushed Elijah back so that he could shine a light into Sean's eyes.

"Hi, buddy." He said gently to Sean. "You know this guy here? He's trying to hitch a ride. Should we let him? Or toss him."

"Toss his weenie ass." Sean mumbled softly, eyelids drooping again.

"He's out again." The paramedic said. "But that was a good sign. And his pupils were normal. Hospital coming up."

Elijah tilted his head down and pressed his cheek against Sean's face. The ambulance doors swung open and they pulled Sean's stretcher out. Elijah saw Dom and Billy standing at the open door and blindly fell forward into their arms.

"He opened his eyes." He moaned against Billy's coat. "He knew who I was."

"Damn!" Dom muttered. "That's the first good news we've had all day!"

They followed the stretcher into the hospital and down a long corridor. Then it made a sharp turn and went through a set of double doors where a nurse firmly turned them back and pointed them toward a set of chairs where PJ was already waiting.

Elijah was panic-stricken. "I don't want to be here!" He said, pacing in front of the doors. "I want to be back there with him! He'll want me there when he wakes up!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wood." The nurse said, kindly. "But Mr. Astin's wife is already back there and she said there were to be no other visitors."

Elijah slowly turned a white, stunned face toward Dom and Billy. "Oh my god." He whispered. "She's not going to let me see him."

One of the paramedics who had brought Sean to the hospital came back through the doors and Elijah seized him. "Is he OK?" he demanded. "Is he awake? Please tell me!"

The paramedic shook his head. "He woke up for that quick second in the ambulance. Seemed fairly coherent. You saw. Then went back out and he's still out."

Elijah collapsed into a chair. He leaned over, feeling dizzy, feeling Billy and Dom on either side of him, propping him up.

PJ grabbed the paramedic. "What are they doing to him?"

"He's going to get a CAT scan. Just to be sure there's no bleed in his brain that means real brain damage. After that, there's not much anyone can do except watch him and see what happens."

Through the double doors, Elijah clearly heard Sean's voice call: "Lijah!"

Elijah leaped to his feet and sprinted for the doors, fully prepared to go right through anyone who was in his way. The nurse and paramedic grabbed him and pulled him back to the chairs. PJ reluctantly helped them sit Elijah back down.

"Just hang on a second." PJ told him, pushing him into the chair. "Just hang on!"

They heard Sean's voice again: "Lij! Where are you?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, PJ!" Dom shouted. "This isn't fucking right! You HEARD Sean call him!"

Elijah leaped to his feet again. "I'm going in there!" he sobbed. "You heard him call me!" He took a boxer's stance and lowered his shoulder. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he fully intended to take on the entire hospital staff if necessary. "I'm going IN there!"

"Can't you do something?" PJ pleaded with the medic, trying to grab Elijah.

The medic put his hand on Elijah's shoulder. "Wait a second. Just wait here. Let me see what's up." He disappeared through the double doors.

"Wait?" Elijah said. "Wait? You heard him, PJ!" He was frantic to get to Sean. Unheeding of hospital security who had obviously been called and who were watching closely, Elijah moved toward the doors. "Sean!" he yelled. "Sean! I'm here!" He couldn't bear it. Sean thought he had abandoned him.

PJ grabbed Elijah and pushed him back into the chair. "Just take it easy, buddy. They can't overrule Chris' wishes. And if Sean's out cold . . . he can't tell them any better."

The paramedic returned and sat down next to Elijah. "He's OK." He said, putting a hand on Elijah's shoulder. "It's all good news. He's still out but his vitals are strong and he's moving everything. Legs, hands, toes.. all that. So there's no paralysis. They have him in getting his CAT scan now and that's going to take a good hour."

Elijah dropped his head into his hands. Relief at the good news he'd just heard was mingled with his fear and anger at not being able to get to Sean.

"Can't you get him back there for just a second?" Dom asked the medic.

"Can't do it, man. It's the wife. She said no one goes back. No one's going to overrule her." He patted Elijah's back and headed back to his ambulance.

"God DAMN it!" Elijah shouted. Then he turned to PJ. "PJ!" he said, desperately, grabbing the big director. "You know her! She likes you! Please. Go ask her if I can't see him for just a second. Please."

PJ was skeptical of his chances of success, but he wandered to the nurse's station and went into quiet conversation with the women there. After a moment they handed him a telephone and he spoke for few minutes.

Hanging up, he returned to where Elijah was standing. He dropped both hands on Elijah's shoulders.

"WHAT?!" Elijah cried. "Tell me!"

PJ sighed. "She said to tell you to go home. She said they're going to keep Sean all night and that she's not letting anyone back there to see him 'till tomorrow. She said Sean needs peace and quiet and that one of them would call you tomorrow."

"But she heard him call me!" Elijah said. "She heard him."

"I mentioned that. She said Sean was out of it and didn't know what he was saying."

He looked down at Elijah's tear filled eyes and shook him gently. "She's not going to let you back there, kid. I don't think she's being mean. She's worried too and just doesn't understand how you feel. She doesn't understand about. . . " Peter hesitated. ". . . about you and Sean. You should go home, Elijah."

Dom was furious. "This is so fucked UP!" he roared at PJ, who shook his head and sighed.

Billy pulled Elijah back to his chair and tried to calm him. "Look at the bright side." Billy said. "Sean's OK. He's going to be all right."

"We won't know that 'till they look at that CAT scan." Elijah said. "You heard what the medic said.

He folded his arms. "I am not fucking leaving. I'm staying right here. Bad enough I can't see him. No fucking way is he gonna hear that I took off before I even knew if he was conscious."

Dom sat down beside him. "That makes two of us."

Billy glared up at PJ. 'Three." He said with his thick Scottish brogue.

PJ sighed. _"A hobbit mutiny. Just what I need."_ He thought. Then he shrugged and took the seat beside Dom.

"Four." He said, stoutly. He was in for the duration.

The next hours passed slowly. Elijah paced like a prowling madman until Dom physically sat him down in the chair and forced some juice into him. Then he sat silently, staring into space, his blue eyes dazed. He held Billy's hand, occasionally wiping tears from his eyes, his face so forsaken that Dom wished he had just let him pace.

Time passed . . .

Hospital waiting rooms get very lonely at 2 AM. Dom was dozing in his chair. Billy was awake, but exhausted, head lolling onto Dom's shoulder. Elijah was a raw nerve. He alternated between pacing the waiting room in vague circles and staring out the window. PJ hadn't moved. Solid as a rock. he sat watching Elijah, wishing there was something he could do to ease his suffering.

PJ had kept in touch with the nurse's station, asking them occasionally for news of Sean. There was never anything new.

Mr. Astin was still unconscious. There was no news about the CAT scan results. His vital signs were stable.

Finally, one of the nurses wandered over to their chairs. "Mr. Wood?" she asked. Elijah leaped to his feet.

"Yes? What! Has something happened?" He felt PJ's hands settle on his shoulders from behind, trying to calm him down. He took a deep breath.

"I have a message for you and your friends from Mrs. Astin. She asked us to tell you that Mr. Astin came to about an hour ago and is sleeping peacefully. His CAT scan was negative. He'll be released in the morning. She said that all of you should go home and that Mr. Astin would call you tomorrow." She smiled at them and went back to the nurses' station.

Elijah didn't move. He stared off into space, still and silent. He was breathing in faint, quiet gasps. Dom reached out and touched his arm.

"Lij?" He said quietly, feeling worried. "You OK? Sounds like Sean's gonna be all right."

Elijah said nothing for a long moment. Then: "Came to an hour ago." He whispered hoarsely. "An hour ago. And it took them this long to tell me."

He turned to his friends. His face was a ghostly mask. "Let's go home. I can't take any more of this."

PJ dropped his arm around Elijah's shoulder. "You should try to get some rest." He told his young star. "I'm worried about you."

They wandered toward the door. As they reached it, the nurse called to them. "Mr. Wood?" Elijah walked to the nurses' station. "Would you take this, Mr. Wood? It was left in the emergency room and we don't want it to get lost." She handed Elijah the Sam-wig that Sean had been wearing when this whole nightmare began.

Elijah stood staring down at it, his eyes filling with tears, until Dom grabbed his arm and steered him out the door and to the car.

The drive home was silent. Everyone was exhausted and beyond speech. Elijah clutched Sam's wig in his hands as if it were a life line. Dom was reluctant to leave him alone at his house, but Elijah insisted he'd be OK. Truth was, he wanted some time alone. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to curl up with Sam's wig and try to sleep. Maybe it would comfort him. He knew nothing else would.

He walked into his living room and collapsed onto the couch. He lifted Sam's wig to his face and inhaled Sean's scent. Then he toppled over onto his couch pillows and cried. He didn't think he'd ever stop crying. He'd never felt a hurt this deep. To hear Sean's voice call to him that way. To KNOW Sean needed him. And not be allowed to go to him. He cried for a long time. Cried out his fear. His pain.

He finally dozed. He awoke feeling dizzy from the emotions that had raked every nerve in his body until they were raw and bleeding. He sat up slowly wondering how long he'd been out, and tried to steady himself.

He was suddenly startled out of his skin by a knock on his door. PJ! Elijah thought. He's worried about me.

Still holding Sam's wig he crossed to his door and opened it . . .

. . . to see Sean standing there.

Elijah felt as though he had been stuck by lightening. He felt sure his mind was playing tricks on him or that he was still asleep and he backed away from the door shaking his head.

Sean followed him in, reaching out to take the wig. "You stole my hair!" he said teasingly.

Elijah couldn't speak. His eyes filled with tears. He dropped to the couch again and lowered his head into his hands. "Oh, Jesus. I've lost my fucking mind."

He felt Sean sit down beside him and in the next moment he was pulled into Sean's arms. Wrapped tight in his arms. "No. No." Sean crooned to him. "It's OK. I'm here. I'm sorry, baby." Sean whispered. "I am so fucking sorry."

Elijah clung to him desperately. He couldn't stop saying Sean's name. He tried to tell him what he'd felt. How terrified he'd been. How his heart had broken when Sean called to him and he was prevented from going to him. But his words were an incoherent babble that only ended up being Sean's name again. And again. And again.

It didn't matter. Sean understood it all. He pulled Elijah down until they were lying side by side on the couch. He held Elijah's body tight against his own, smoothing his back and hair and murmuring gentle words in his ear. "I know, baby." He whispered. "I heard. I heard it all. I know."

Elijah suddenly bolted upright on the couch. "Oh my god!" he cried. "Oh my god, Sean! Oh Jesus! Are you OK?" He stroked Sean's face, gently, looking at the side of his head where the huge lump had formed earlier. It didn't look as huge now, but it was still there. He cupped Sean's face in his hands. "Oh, god." He said softly. "Please tell me you're all right."

Sean laughed and pulled him back down into his arms. "Well I WOULD be OK, if you'd quit wiggling so much and just snuggle with me!"

Elijah quieted in his arms. "Should you be here? Did the doctors release you? I'm worried about you."

Sean hugged him tighter. "I'm fine. Just a little tired and groggy. They were going to release me in a few hours anyway. One of the medics who brought me in stopped by to see me. He told me how torn up you were and how you couldn't get back to see me even when I called for you."

He looked into Elijah's eyes and leaned down to kiss him softly. "So I checked out AMA and took a cab here."

Elijah tried to speak, but couldn't. He curled against Sean and tried desperately to bury himself in the feel of him, the sound of his voice, the smell of him, the taste of Sean's kiss in his mouth.

He lifted his face and gazed into the hazel eyes that he loved. _I could have lost him._ Elijah thought. And the pain of this thought twisted his heart. "I could have lost you." He moaned to Sean.

"Fat chance." Sean whispered. "You can't get rid of me that easy." He held Elijah close. _He just has to get it out._ Sean thought. _It might take awhile, but I'm in no hurry._

"The medic told me you were ready to take on five huge security guys." Sean said, grinning down at him.

"Only four." Elijah said, looking up with a small smile. "But they WERE heavily armed!"

"You and me," Sean said quietly "are taking the day OFF tomorrow."

"Mmmmm." Elijah murmured.

"Was that a 'yes'?" Sean asked?

"Mmmmm." Elijah responded again.

"You have a problem making decisions?" Sean asked, hugging him tighter. "And hey! Guess what!"

Elijah looked up. "What?"

"I have a big brain." Sean announced. 'They told me so at the hospital. Saw it in my CAT scan. How 'bout that?!"

"You heard them wrong." Elijah sighed against his shoulder. "They told me too. What they actually said was: 'He has a FAT HEAD!"

They both laughed out loud, but Elijah saw Sean wince.

He pulled back and stared at him, scared. "What?"

"Just a bit of a headache." Sean told him.

"I don't doubt it." Elijah told him. "You had half a building dropped on you."

He looked hard at Sean and got a big grin and crossed hazel eyes in response. "Can I get you anything?" Elijah asked him quietly, shaking his head at Sean's mugging.

"Yeah." Sean breathed. "Matter of fact you can." He pulled Elijah back into his arms. "You can give me this."

Elijah sighed and nestled into him. He loved the feeling of Sean's arms tight around him. He never took it for granted. And, especially after today, he didn't think he ever would take it for granted. Not ever in his life.

"Night, brainy." He murmured against Sean's chest.

"Night, Doodle." Sean whispered into his hair.

Sleep took them.


End file.
